King of Baseball was a ceremonial title awarded annually from 1951 to 2019 by Minor League Baseball to recognize an individual for their longtime dedication and service to

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

. It was awarded during baseball's Winter Meetings and usually presented along with a crown and robe. The title originated in a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

held in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Minor League Baseball in 1951. The first king was selected to accompany the winner, "Miss Golden Anniversary". The pageant was discarded after 1954, but crowning a king continued. The title was not issued in 2020 after the cancellation of the minor league season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2021,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

assumed control of the minor leagues. Subsequently, the committee responsible for the award chose to discontinue the honor.

Winners

References

Specific General * {{King of Baseball Awards disestablished in 2021 Awards established in 1951 Minor league baseball trophies and awards